You start to realize you’re no longer in America when:
– The day’s top news story covers the arrest of a dad who made his son a marijuana pizza.
– The Godfather casually pulls 1,000 euro in cash out of his pocket to reimburse moving expenses.
– Your pregnant belly is viewed as public property.
– You buy peaches, grapes, cantaloupe, lemons, tomatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini, potatoes, and a 30-lb. watermelon at the market for a grand total of 9 euro.
– All the other moms at the park have 0% body fat and glitter on their shirts (and pants, and shoes, and sunglasses…).
– The cheapest espresso money can buy tastes like a rich, velvety version of paradise.
– Every person in town takes a vacation on August 15th because — hey, August 15th is a great day to take a vacation!
– Swimsuits are optional.
I like Europe (and I’ll let you guess which reasons why… ::grin::).
I am interested in learning one particular thing about Italy… their birth rate is something like 1.1 or 1.3. The USA is double that. Is this disparity noticeable to you? And what are the visible effects, if there are some, on the Italian society of having so few children?
Darius
I’ll try to answer that one!
I would say that is painfully obvious that Italians at least show more love their 1.1 to 1.3 kids far more that we ever saw in America. Beyond that, they are so much more excited for us about having a second child than Americans were. It is definitely a much more family friendly and focused society.
Every evening as I walk home from work every playground is packed with parents and kids…it’s a heartwarming site!
That is interesting. I am definitely tired of how many people gripe about families with more than 2 kids. Even in the Christian church, it seems to be an unwritten rule that more than 2 or 3 kids is somehow excessive or even dumb. Not that I think every couple has to have a gaggle of kids, but why the disdain for those who do? Good to know there is at least one society that still cherishes children (even if it doesn’t seem to have many of its own).
Maybe there is some proverb in there… Better one child with love than three with MTV and toys.